Will Seippel, CEO of WorthPoint, enjoys watching the items sold at auctions held by our WorthPoint Industry Partners. We thought it would be a great idea for him to select some of his favorite sold items and explain why those sales stood out to him. Gaining insights from Will is an excellent way to learn about buying and selling trends in our industry. We want to empower you to buy and sell with confidence. Take a look at his thoughts on a few of our partners’ recent sales.
It’s hard to believe we’re already in April, but here we are! On the 1st—no joke—WorthPoint added a whopping 247,817 items to its database, bringing the total value to $16,977,702.86, which works out to about $68.50 per lot.
Wanna Buy a Totem Pole?
Alaska Premier always seems to have the most unique and jaw-dropping items pass through their auction floor, and this week was no exception. In a sale that perfectly captured the spirit of the “Last Frontier,” they featured an 8′ Tlingit totem pole, carved by adopted artist Scott Kadach áak ú Jensen in 1998, which fetched $24,600. This stunning piece, titled “Octopus House Post,” depicted a variety of intricate Tlingit formline designs, including a shaman figure surrounded by an octopus. It was a striking blend of artistry and history, ready to transform any backyard or man cave into something extraordinary. Alongside it, a 6′ mammoth tusk from the Peace River, dating back around 11,000 to 16,000 years, brought in $16,200. Once stabilized with resin, the tusk was recently restored to bring out even more vibrant colors and unique characteristics, making it a must-have for any serious collector of prehistoric fossils.
The auction also had some unexpected surprises, like a Bob Ross Northern Lights velvet painting on a gold mining pan, which went for $8,560. Ross, stationed in Alaska in the early 1970s, created these distinctive pieces that blended traditional Alaskan landscapes with a touch of his signature style, using silver glitter to enhance the beauty of the snowy scenes. This particular piece, created in 1971 and acquired directly from the family who purchased it, showed excellent preservation and displayed the “wet-on-wet” technique Ross was known for. Who would have thought that velvet would host such a sophisticated piece of art, traditionally associated with Elvis paintings on the side of the road in the ’70s? Alaska Premier’s sale was a fascinating mix of frontier and artistic oddities, proving that you never quite know what to expect when the auction hammer falls.
Murky World of Military Reproductions
At Gold Coast’s NYC auction, a WWII German Paratrooper’s helmet sold for an impressive $30,000, though the item’s authenticity was left up in the air. The auction house was clear in its disclaimer, stating that they made no guarantees about the helmet’s originality. If it was a fake, it had been crafted with painstaking detail, showing considerable wear and the “right look.” Despite the uncertainty, this sale could set a major precedent for this type of helmet, establishing a new price point for similar items. However, the listing added a confusing, keyword-heavy sentence at the end that was meant to boost search rankings but only served to muddle the description for anyone who actually read it. While the item was described as a “WW2 German M38 Paratrooper Helmet” with original sand paint showing through, buyers were left to make their own judgments about its authenticity. With no guarantees and a strict no-refund policy, this auction highlighted the fine line between collecting historical artifacts and the murky world of military reproductions.
A True Gem
In closing, we find ourselves back in the mancave, toasting a day of imaginary shopping with a sip of a single malt we just bought at Hall’s Auction Services. This particular bottle, a 1964 Fino Cask Whiskey, was thirty-seven years old when it was bottled, and it’s now even older, making it a true collector’s gem. With only 300 bottles in this limited “small batch” release, this nectar was once affordable but has since been discovered by those in the know. Bottle 253/300, a 750 ml Islay single malt with 49.6% ABV, sold for a staggering $20,400. The only dilemma now is what to move on to once this rare bottle is gone—because it doesn’t get much better than this. From its ex-Fino Sherry cask aging to the handcrafted oak presentation case, everything about this bottle speaks to quality and exclusivity.
Will Seippel is the founder, president, and CEO of WorthPoint. Will has been an avid collector since 1974 and dealer of just about all things antique—with an emphasis on ephemera— since 1984. He is also the creator and founder of HIP, a website devoted to recording the best of the world’s history that has been saved on film.
WorthPoint—Discover. Value. Preserve.
